A Defensive Disguise

Do we, as people, hide behind a carefully planned disguise to guard ourselves from the cruelties of the world? 

In Sins of a Wicked Duke, by Sophie Jordan, Fallon O'Rourke believes that that is the only way for her to be safe in a world of mischievous men. Fallon has never had an easy life, working for every bit of food and any shelter that she can find. Yet she finds she feels the safest when she's disguised as a footman, working for the "demon" duke, Dominic Hale.  

Are the disguises that we give ourselves a defense tactic? Or are we simply afraid to show our true selves to those who may harm us? These questions surfaced while I was reading this novel and I found myself connecting with Fallon because of her tactics. Hiding herself away in order to achieve her long term goal, a home of her own. Many people have been in similar situations where they must act a certain way and give a specific appearance in order to blend in with the crowd. 

But just as Fallon questioned her tactics, we must also ask, when is it time to come out of hiding? 

Sins of a Wicked Duke on Amazon

rating: 3/5 cups

Duke For Hire

It begins with a woman looking for a husband.

Not love.

It also begins with the same woman mistaking a duke for a common business solicitor.

When he's hired by her to find her a husband, preferably, a duke, and preferably, on her list of acceptable dukes. He agrees. Because really, with those eyes, how could he say no to her?

Except he, being a duke, isn't on the list. And he just also happens to be the one who has fallen in love with her.

Poor Elinor, being set up to fall in love with James Tremont when all she wanted was an acceptable marriage.

**

It's obvious to see that what Elinor really wants is just that, love. Only she believes (after her first husband was overly cruel) that it won't ever exist for her. After being hurt, we're all cautious to jump back in the world of relationships, and that is exactly where the reader connects with Elinor. Making this love story, Mad About the Duke by Elizabeth Boyle, laugh out loud funny and hopelessly endearing.

Mad About the Duke on Amazon

rating: 4/5 cups

Who Would You Be?

Who would you be if you woke up not knowing who you were?

Without a memory, without a past. A blank slate waiting with a piece of chalk poised above it. If events and how we react to them make us who we are, then would you become a different person when given the chance to start over?

The story of "Vivien" revolves around this thought in the novel Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas. I, personally, couldn't connect with the main character when it comes to her amnesia. But I could connect with the way "Vivien" rejected her past to become someone new because it was so thought provoking. It forced me to ask myself what I would want to change about my personality and past if I was given the chance.

Then the novel forced me to go even deeper when the plot took a turn I never saw coming. It left me questioning whether people ever really change.

Is the person we'll grow up to be an innate form? Or one of evolution?

Someone to Watch Over Me on Amazon

rating: 4/5 cups

SOPA/PIPA Petition

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